William Raspberry
{{short description|American journalist (1935-2012)}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = William James Raspberry
| image = William Raspberry 2009.jpg
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth-date|October 12, 1935}}
| birth_place = Okolona, Mississippi, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2012|7|17|1935|10|12}}
{{cite news
|newspaper=New York Times |date=July 17, 2012
|title=William Raspberry, Prizewinning Columnist, Dies at 76 |first=Dennis |last=Hevesi |accessdate=2014-01-19
|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/18/us/william-raspberry-columnist-dies-at-76.html?_r=0}}
| death_place = Washington, D.C., U.S.
| resting_place = Rock Creek Cemetery
Washington, D.C., U.S.
| nationality =
| other_names =
| known_for =
| education = Indiana Central College, B.S. 1958 (History)
| relatives = James Lee Raspberry, teacher (father)
Willie Mae Tucker Raspberry, teacher (b. ~1906) (mother)
| spouse = Sondra Patricia Raspberry (née Dodson) (m. 1966–2012)
| children = {{Plainlist|
- Patricia D. Raspberry
- Mark J. Raspberry
- Angela Raspberry Jackson
- foster son, Reginald Harrison}}
| awards = {{Plainlist|
- 1965 Capital Press Club’s Journalist of the Year award
- 1994 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary
- 1994 National Association of Black Journalists lifetime achievement award
- 2004 National Press Club's Fourth Estate Award
- 15+ honorary doctorates}}
| occupation = Journalist
}}
William Raspberry (October 12, 1935 – July 17, 2012) was an American syndicated public affairs columnist. He was also the Knight Professor of the Practice of Communications and Journalism at the Sanford Institute of Public Policy at Duke University. An African American, he frequently wrote on racial issues.
In 1999, Raspberry received the Elijah Parish Lovejoy Award as well as an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Colby College.
Career
After earning a B.S. in history at the University of Indianapolis in 1958, Raspberry continued to work at the local weekly Indianapolis Recorder where he had begun in 1956, rising to associate managing editor. He was drafted and served as a U.S. Army public information officer from 1960–1962. The Washington Post hired him as a teletypist in 1962. Raspberry quickly rose in the ranks of the paper, becoming a columnist in 1966. Raspberry was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 1982, and won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 1994.
Raspberry supported gay rights, writing at least one column condemning gay-bashing.[https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/search.html Archive Search for "William Raspberry" gay] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170707191430/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/search.html |date=2017-07-07 }}, archival list of William Raspberry's columns on gay issues at the Washington Post 1993-2005.{{cite news |newspaper=Washington Post |page=A.19 |authorlink=William Raspberry |last=Raspberry |first=William |accessdate=2014-01-20 |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/35620758.html?dids=35620758:35620758&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Nov+2%2C+1998&author=William+Raspberry&pub=The+Washington+Post&edition=&startpage=A.19&desc=What+Are+Gay-Bashers+Afraid+of%3F |title=What Are Gay-Bashers Afraid Of? |date=November 2, 1998 |format=fee |archive-date=2012-10-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020200157/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/35620758.html?dids=35620758:35620758&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Nov+2,+1998&author=William+Raspberry&pub=The+Washington+Post&edition=&startpage=A.19&desc=What+Are+Gay-Bashers+Afraid+of%3F |url-status=dead }} He argued against certain torts and complaints from the disabled.Raspberry, William. [https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/36000777.html?dids=36000777:36000777&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Nov+16%2C+1998&author=William+Raspberry&pub=The+Washington+Post&edition=&startpage=A.25&desc=Claims+Against+Common+Sense Claims Against Common Sense] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020200209/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/36000777.html?dids=36000777:36000777&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Nov+16,+1998&author=William+Raspberry&pub=The+Washington+Post&edition=&startpage=A.25&desc=Claims+Against+Common+Sense |date=2012-10-20 }}. November 16, 1998, Washington Post via archive accessed May 23, 2009. Ragged Edge, a disabled-rights publication, published complaints from letters to the editor that the Post did not print.{{cite news |url=http://www.ragged-edge-mag.com/0399/d399nb.htm |title=News Bites Gimps: Raspberry's target denied response in print |date=March–April 1999 |newspaper=Ragged Edge |accessdate=2014-01-20 |archive-date=2015-09-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924084408/http://www.ragged-edge-mag.com/0399/d399nb.htm |url-status=dead }}
Raspberry retired in December 2005.Raspberry, William. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/25/AR2005122500653.html What I'll Do Next]. December 26, 2005, Washington Post. Accessed May 23, 2009. He provided the Washington Post a guest column on November 11, 2008, commenting on the election of Barack Obama as president of the United States.Raspberry, William. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/10/AR2008111001544.html A Path Beyond Grievance]. November 11, 2008, Washington Post. Accessed May 23, 2009.
As of 2008, he was president of "Baby Steps", a parent training and empowerment program based in Okolona, Mississippi. Raspberry was an alumnus of Okolona College.{{cite web|url=http://www.berea.edu/media-relations/african-american-educator-and-1901-graduate-wallace-a-battle-to-be-honored-at-berea-college-founders-day-oct-12/|title=African American educator and 1901 graduate Wallace A. Battle to be honored at Berea College Founders' Day Oct. 12 - Media Relations & News|work=berea.edu}}
He is the author of Looking Backward at Us, a collection of his columns from the 1980s.
Death
Raspberry died of prostate cancer on July 17, 2012,{{cite news|first=Matt |last=Schudel |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/william-raspberry-dies-washington-post-columnist-wrote-about-social-issues-including-race-poverty/2012/07/17/gJQAS210qW_story.html |title=William Raspberry dies: Washington Post columnist wrote about social issues including race, poverty |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=July 17, 2012 |accessdate=2012-07-17}} aged 76. He was buried at Rock Creek Cemetery.{{citation needed |date=June 2022}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Portal|Biography}}
- [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/linkset/2005/03/24/LI2005032401732.html William Raspberry's column in The Washington Post]
- [http://fds.duke.edu/db/aas/PublicPolicy/faculty/raspberr Raspberry's Duke University Homepage]
- [http://fds.duke.edu/db/Sanford/faculty/raspberr/cv.html William Raspberry curriculum vitae] dated 2008/08/12
- {{C-SPAN|13175}}
{{PulitzerPrize Commentary 1976–2000}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Raspberry, William}}
Category:African-American journalists
Category:Deaths from prostate cancer in Washington, D.C.
Category:Duke University faculty
Category:Elijah Parish Lovejoy Award recipients
Category:Pulitzer Prize for Commentary winners
Category:The Washington Post people
Category:People from Okolona, Mississippi
Category:Journalists from Indiana
Category:University of Indianapolis alumni
Category:Journalists from Mississippi
Category:Burials at Rock Creek Cemetery